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Index up, as foreign investor sales slow down
The VN-Index yesterday increased 2.15 points to close at 247.85, a rise of 0.88 percent, as a couple of reports noted an easing in the pace at which foreign investors have been unloading Vietnamese shares since late last year.
Volume in yesterday's session on the HCM City Stock Exchange rose 43 per cent over the previous session to 10.4 million shares, for a combined value of VND197.2 billion (US$11.6 million). Buying volume has outnumbered selling volume for six consecutive days, according to VNDirect Securities.
PetroVietnam Transportation Co (PVT) claimed the spot as the most-active share, with 958,000 units traded, followed by perennial favourite Sacombank (STB), with 737,000 shares.
"There's little chance that the VN-Index will fall further," Ha Noi Securities Co opined in a report. "But it will also be hard for the market to rally, as trading volumes and values are maintaining moderate levels without any sudden changes."
According to VNDirect Securities, foreign investor buys improved yesterday, with foreign investors picking up 1.86 million shares - about seven times last week's daily average. Nevertheless, foreign investors continued to be net sellers yesterday, selling around 2.9 million shares, and net sale of about a million share, worth VND15.4 billion ($906,000).
HSBC has remarked on slower foreign investors sales, in its latest report, Viet Nam Monitor March 2009. Net foreign investor sales totalled $127 million in the fourth quarter of 2008, but that figure fell to just $2 million in the first two months of 2009.
Foreign investors "have sold a lot, and now they don't have much left to sell," quipped HCM City Securities Co expert Fiachra MacCana, who predicted foreign indirect investment would improve in another six months.
In the meantime, MacCana said, investment funds would have few opportunities to raise capital as their stakeholders were still under pressure to withdraw capital amid the global financial turmoil.
In Ha Noi yesterday, the HASTC-Index also closed 0.94 points higher to 85.53, an increase of 1.11 per cent. Trading volume was 4.5 million shares, worth VND84 billion ($4.9 million). Most stocks saw minimal activity, except for Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) with 1.3 million shares changing hands.
VietNamNet, Viet Nam News
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